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View Full Version : DJ's...do yourself a favor...learn a little bit about audio


djvortex
Mon Feb 21, 2005, 10:57 PM
The purpose of this thread is simple, to educate, and inform. If you are a dj reading this, than take it as something you already know and disregard or learn from it and improve upon your skills!!!!!!!!!!

Below is a small bit of info and 2 links, click the links and READ the articles!

Why you ask...well if you're a really good dj then you'll know the answer to that question.

I will give an example. At AOA the other night I went up to the dj playing in the second room around 12:30 and noticed that one of the monitors was blown...reason..he did not know what the hell he was doing. I got his attention and pointed to the level indicator lights on the mixer. The lights were pegged in the red and I explained to him that he sounded like shit because he was sending a muddy signal to the speakers. He then looked at me and returned to what he was doing, not really caring what I had told him. Fo those of you who had thought the sound was bad in that room, that is why...dj's not knowing what the hell they are doing.

For you dj's, I assume that when you play you want to sound good...right? Well to do so you need to know a little about sound and how it works when amplified. Louder is better yes, but only when it's done right. You want a clean loud sound, not a muddy distorted shit sound. This applies to dj's spinning all types of music. As well, I assume that you being a dj do not want to destroy the speakers that you are playing out of. SO please do us all a favor and read the articles I have linked here, It will make you sound better. This is not to offend anyone, and if it does, I apologize....If all you see on the mixer is red lights, then it's a safe bet that you sound like shit through the system. And above all...DO NOT TOUCH THE AMPS... they are not yours, unless you brought them, and most likely you do not know what the hell you are doing and have no business touching them in the first place.

Be a professional, dj'ing is an art, and not easy to do....so do it right, learn about audio and sound good when you play. If the sound guy has to keep telling you to back off, and you can't seem to keep a clean sound then you might as well pack it up and go home because you have no business behind the decks. A good dj always knows hoe he or she sounds in the room and how to keep it clean and loud at the same time....listen to the sound guy, he is there to help you sound better, not to keep you quiet and be a pain in the ass.

http://www.rocketroberts.com/techart/amp.htm

http://www.rocketroberts.com/audio.htm


Output level: You can adjust how loud the final signal gets going out of the mixer. A delicate balancing act often occurs here (when playing live) between the output level and the input levels. the trick is to get the loudest signal without distortion and still compensate for different record pressing levels. Headroom is life ! All faders up doesn't always work. Remember that.

LED levels: A very inconsistently useful feature. The output level indicators tell you how powerful the signal you are outputing is and how much headroom you have left before everything distorts. Sometimes you can split the 2 indicators. The left one then tells you how loud the cue is while the right tells you how loud the program output is. There is no standard layout.

RaveCrusader
Mon Feb 21, 2005, 11:31 PM
Keith is 100% correct. The biggest mistake I see many DJs make is the output levels. For those of you want to play in a club and not just at raves this becomes increasingly important.

It is better to sound clean at a lower level then blaringly loud and sound like shit.

eLectroChickLP
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 12:05 AM
It is better to sound clean at a lower level then blaringly loud and sound like shit.

well duh? *kiss kiss*


~Christy~

Kevy Kev
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 02:16 AM
Told ya....

rizednb
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 02:30 AM
i know u aint talkin about all djs......just the amaturs

Joshua Adam
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 03:46 AM
obviously those seem to be the ones playing out or else this topic wouldn't have been posted, eh?

jUnKo MiZunO
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 03:49 AM
but i like going in the red
















that means im hardcore
























no im kidding

cuz if i was 4 serious nobody would let me near their shit,









:-#

cammyjams
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 09:06 AM
There's another contributing factor to all the meters going into the red, and it's called "threshold shift". Things get quieter over time.

What happens is that when your are subjected to loud noises for a period of time your ears actually start to close up. The little tube that leads to your ear drum contracts and shrinks and lets less noise through to the ear drum. So things seem quieter so you turn it up. This is why most DJ's start pushing it after 10 minutes or so of exposure to volume, like in a club or out of the monitors.

Here's an example you can do for fun, imaging that sitting right where you are now, someone is about to light a fire cracker or fire a weapon right by your chair. Count down to it, like 3-2-1-bang. If you do this right (and actually believe that this is going to happen) you can actually FEEL this occuring, you may hear the bones in your ear moving as the muscles contract around the outter ear. It's a protection response your body has to threats, like Oprah attacking Las Vegas, or BooBah, but I digress ;)

This is why you never mix a track (like studio mix, not DJ mix) after producing all day. You get up fresh and mix in the morning. As the ear contracts your freq. response also changes, you're no longer hearing things acurately.

This is also why smart sound system owners put comp/limiters on thier speakers, so your threshold shifted ass can't blow the stuff up.

There's nothing you can do to prevent this except wear ear plugs and watch those meters which most people don't like doing either of.

ArielMoses
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 12:20 PM
LMFAO.... just watch your levels.....Pioneers suggestion don't go pass -4 ranes... 2 red lgihts is average... crest audio.. 1 red light..... vestax 3 are allowed..... any other mixers??? oh don;'t turn up thr GAIN so much keep it in the middle... use your headphones if u can't hear.. u hbave a separate booth for your monitor.. VORTEX!!!! well done!!

djvortex
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 07:27 PM
Thanks Moe, I just am tired of hearing good dj's sound like shit, and it sucks when yer speakers get blown cause someone doesn't know what they're doin....I hope everyone who read this thread learned something.

stasis-AA
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 07:46 PM
well said. sometimes depending on the setup the music sounds a lot softer behind the decks than it does out on the floor, so people instinctively turn it way up. also many times the levels on the mixer tend to coincide with the level of alcohol in the dj's bloodstream.

6 Sic 6
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 07:55 PM
Hell I was getting ready to spin a set at a party in Cali about 5 months ago and I noticed a loud humming comming from the cabnits when I walked in. I walked up to the dj booth before my set started and told the clown spinning that I will put 500 $ that says the ground wires on the tables are NOT connected. He looked at me funny and blew it off like his $hit didn't stink. After about 30 min of me laughing at him cause his set sounded like crap, the tard finally decides to look and would'nt ya know it................UNPLUGGED !!!! Focus people ! Thats why there is a procedure called a "Sound Check" . Durrr !

ArielMoses
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 07:57 PM
LMFAO.... true.... but is all good some day we will learn :-({|= I honestly give props to everyone who puts a needle on a record... because it takes more than just mixing.... if u know what I mean...

6 Sic 6
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 08:06 PM
Hell that story is not as bad as the time I was spinning at another party in Cali also and some prick dj got mad and stole the tonearm weights. Ever seen someone try to cue a record with no counter-weight holding the tonearm down ? For those of you that do not know, a tonearm weighs ALOT more without a counter-weight. Let me tell ya, that was the last time that guy ever used that set of records. Looks like someones dog got ahold of them by the time he was finished. =D>

RaveCrusader
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 08:29 PM
LMFAO.... true.... but is all good some day we will learn :-({|= I honestly give props to everyone who puts a needle on a record... because it takes more than just mixing.... if u know what I mean...

More then mixing... THAT’S CRAZY TALK!! Why you gotta talk crazy Moe? Why?

Just kidding dude, watching those little lights blink at the proper level must be hard. Some peeps just can’t seem to get a handle on it.


i know u aint talkin about all djs......just the amaturs

I have witnessed “professional” DJs make the same mistake. It is more common among the amateurs but I have seen many DJs at Raves make the same mistake over the last 15 years.


well duh? *kiss kiss*


~Christy~

Be nice to an old man... =P

hippiekid
Tue Feb 22, 2005, 08:41 PM
Yes people learn from this..
Speaker replacements aint cheap and can burry you deeper in debt...From Experience... Winks...

rizednb
Thu Feb 24, 2005, 12:08 AM
well i think if a promoter has a proper rig....no need for rplace ment...and u do a proper sound check be the party ..jsut my two cents

jowenz
Fri Feb 25, 2005, 01:31 AM
Heres the deal - the promoter did have a proper rig, MINE The Blue System from Owenhoff. Any PROPER rig could have this happen as well its pure signal flow people. The problem is when I did a soundcheck and set HIGH powered amps at a certain level (like less than half) and some wiseguy turns the amp up to 100% and peaks mixer levels in red speakers get blown. A 15" speakers voice coil was fried to a crisp. You may avoid this when you have an amp half the power that your cabs require, but when you have amps that normally power much larger cabs, and your using it on a monitor... Well no compressor / limiter can help when an amp level is changed that is after the compressor signal flow. So PLEASE dont touch amp racks, they are set at a level for a reason. Im gonna start putting some security screens, and locks on my shit i guess.

Jaye..Ruue
Mon Feb 28, 2005, 04:48 PM
Just to let everyone know.. That DJ was me. and you know what else.... That monitor was blown way before we even started our set. It was the hardcore dj before us that had the monitors pointed out twards the crowd. If you also remember... YOUR sound wasn't the only sound in that rooom. OUR SOUND WAS THERE TOO. We dont want our shit blown either!!! And we were checking dj's, and their levels ALL NIGHT.

Im no fucking rockstar... but im no noobie either.. anyone can attest to that. I hate drama but make sure you get your shit straight, before you talk shit.

Jaye..Ruue
Mon Feb 28, 2005, 05:12 PM
oh yeah... here's some info on some QUALITY GEAR.

http://www.funktion-one.com/

http://www.eaw.com/

http://www.electrovoice.com/

http://www.dasaudio.com/

http://www.turbosound.com/


STOP SELLING THE DNB ROOM SHORT!!! [/url]

jowenz
Tue Mar 1, 2005, 07:32 PM
oh yeah... here's some info on some QUALITY GEAR.

http://www.funktion-one.com/

http://www.eaw.com/

http://www.electrovoice.com/

http://www.dasaudio.com/

http://www.turbosound.com/


STOP SELLING THE DNB ROOM SHORT!!! [/url]

Hey Jayrue do you own any of those speakers you listed?
My point is you work with what you got. And one of your compression drivers in your CerwinVega System was blown as well as DJVORTEX's monitor.

AWOL PRODUCTIONS
Wed Mar 2, 2005, 01:52 PM
702 812 7228... <has gear will rent.....

i dont own a speaker other than whats in my car and in my living room.. but i can get you any one of the above systems for your party.. so call that numba..

lol jaye..rue.... get shit straight.. turbosound goes on top... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahah kiddin.. yeah but take notice.. funktion one is awesome as shit at ice... but not practical.. and is old turbosound technology just put into a purdy furutistic enclosure... the direction turbosound is going with the aspect cabinets are supreme... and making huge noice in the audio industry... i think we will be the frist people in america to get the new turbosound apsect rig... yeaaaaaaaah i cant wait to play with these babies...